Freemasons to launch their own TV series

A TV series that reveals the inside story behind exclusive men’s club the Freemasons is to run on Victorian community channel C31 next month.

The series – called Freemasons: The Inside Story – aims to expose the myths associated with the fraternity, look back at its history and ponder the role Freemasonry plays within the community, according a press release from the group.

The series is to be presented by 3AW radio presenter Wes Turnbull.

The 26-part series, created by Melbourne-based production company Fuzzy TV, will run in 30-minute episodes from Monday 4 March.

It probably won’t be seen here in the US, so will they try to market it to aa broadcasting company over here. Or will a DVD become available for purchase, so brothers everywhere can purchase a copy. I’ve been a mason for 1 year and I would love to learn all I can about our Fraternity.

As an Aussie Mason, I would say “exclusive” is an incorrect description and this gives us some insight into the problem.

At a time when Freemasonry prospered, the organisation could afford to be exclusive and secretive.

Then, a generation became jaded and Masons’ sons weren’t joining anymore. The secretive ways of Freemasonry raised questions about what they got up to behind closed doors – they must’ve been up to something sinister, or else what is there to hide? Catholics weren’t welcome, boys-only clubs were no longer acceptable and Masons were spending too much time being Masons rather than being family men.

There now exists a generation gap and the aging population of Masons gets frighteningly smaller by the day.

In the face of extinction, Masons have been forced to open their doors more freely, which they have been doing for years now. They are no longer exclusive and they are certainly not secretive. Their inner-goings-on are freely available to non-members, online or at any Grand Lodge, at least in countries where its operation is more widely accepted (the US, UK, Australia and others). In Lodge, I sit beside Catholics, Muslims, Jews and anyone else that doesn’t belong to one of the main religions but has their own belief about something bigger. There are active appendant masonic bodies for women. And you can even spot a Mason on the street, with ease: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddM7kJ9xQfA

Despite progress made, the problem is, the voice of Freemasonry had withered at a time when people had already made up their minds about Freemasonry – Masons weren’t large enough in number to counteract negative perception by their good deeds or by the reversal of their secretive and exclusive ways. Freemasonry became irrelevant to society and so how do you change perception among an audience that isn’t even paying anymore attention or when your voice is no longer loud enough? I don’t mean to suggest brands win by shouting loudest or by shouting at all; I’m merely making a (probably obvious) point that it’s more difficult to engage a stand-offish audience then when working off a clean slate.

As for this TV series, well I think it’s a great initiative – I believe any mass exposure of our good deeds, is positive exposure for an organisation struggling to stay relevant and for an organisation that does not and cannot extend a direct invitation to join.

The only thing I would’ve done differently is waited a little longer to launch the series. A side note, but in the pipeline is the film adaption of Dan Brown’s The Lost Symbol, which tells a story about Freemasonry to mass audiences. It’s a sensational story but at least more people would be paying attention. Perhaps then the TV series would make more traction, if only a little.

Regarding rural & regional broadcasting of Channel 31…that’s a Federal Gov issue. C31 wants to extend its reach to the whole of Victoria and has requested the Senator to seriously consider. But this doesn’t appear to be a priority, particularly now an election has been called! To be fair it will take some careful planning and possible restructuring of the Community TV (CTV) sector to enable all cap city based CTV stations to broadcast into their respective state regions. But agree, it should be done!